At the 4th Annual Texas State Quiz Show competition held July 31, students from Pin Oak Middle School came away with bragging rights as the Texas Middle School that “knows Texas best.”
The team, consisting of Kevin Dwyer, Shahryar Mansoor, Ciros Mazloom, Hijab Nomani and Seth Uzman, took first place during the state-level of the academic competition, which tests students’ knowledge of Texas history, geography, weather, economics, politics, sports and popular culture. The contest is sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association and its middle-school educational program, the Junior Historians.
Team coaches Ray Frankum and John Gomez, Texas History teachers at Pin Oak Middle School, are ecstatic, according to school officials.
“These kids have committed so much time, really studying the material and practicing, it’s fantastic to see them rewarded for their efforts, especially considering the very stiff competition they were up against,” said Frankum. “There were several times it could have gone either way; we were on the edge of our seats.”
“There was a lot of energy and drive on both sides in that final round against Stevenson Middle School from San Antonio; there was a point where I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” said Gomez.
Held at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, the state-level competition, which was postponed to summer this year due to the Swine Flu scare, hosted eight schools from across Texas. Regional contests were held in April for the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas. Pin Oak, for the second year in a row, took first place during the Houston region-level contest, earning them a slot at state.
“After coming in second last year at state, it was really satisfying to come in #1 after working so hard to bring prestige to our school,” said team member Uzman. “Especially with this being my last chance.”
Pin Oak lost to Baker Middle School from Corpus Christi in the final round at state last year. Uzman, who is leaving Pin Oak for high school this fall, was on the team last year as well. “While the competition is stressful, the program is really good at getting students interested in history and developing a positive relationship between teachers and students. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“It’s fun to watch the kids perform with grace under pressure,” said Uzman’s father, Akif Uzman. “There were points where they were really getting beaten up by the other teams, but they hung in there, and persevered. If that’s not a great life skill, I don’t know what is.”
